First Information Report: Rockstar

By Hindustan Times

A month-long promotional campaign that included a houseful promotional concert in Mumbai with Oscar winner AR Rahman for the first time promoting a film live, didn’t reflect on advance booking sales of Ranbir Kapoor’s new movie Rockstar.

“The advance was not encouraging,” admits tradesmith Komal Nahta, editor of koimoi.com and Film Information, “but the morning shows on Friday registered about 60-90 per cent occupancy in multiplexes and 40-50 percent in single screen cinemas.”

However, at the time of going to press, tickets for the other shows on the first day were easily available at several theatres. Nahta, though, is confident that sales will pick up over the weekend. So too is Gautam Datta of PVR Cinemas, who is equally sure that it will get a further boost from Monday when ticket prices drop.

“A huge segment watches films between Monday and Thursday. Today, the first Monday is as important as the opening Friday,” he asserts.

Sanjay Ghai, a Delhi-based distributor of Mukta Arts, describes Rockstar as “complete paisa vasool” (your money’s worth) and believes it will strengthen Ranbir’s market: “Eros, who bought the film from Ashtavinayak, will definitely not run into losses, but movies like Rockstar take time to grow. With no other biggies competing for attention, it has a definite advantage.”

Tradesmith Amod Mehra, and Manoj Desai, owner of the G-7 screens and Maratha Mandir cinema, are not as optimistic given the film’s slow-paced storyline and two-hour-forty-minute running time.

“It’s an excellent movie, but not meant for a family audience,” says Mehra, who feels its appeal will remain restricted to only the class audience at multiplexes and thereby mar the film’s overall business.

“Great performances can never guarantee a hit. Take the case of Guzaarish that was a colossal flop. Here the target audience is the youth but they don’t have the patience to sit through 14 songs spread across two hours and 40 minutes,” adds Mehra.

Desai endorses Mehra’s views that the film should have been at least 15 minutes shorter, given that it is not a typical “commercial entertainer”.